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| Max Ulichney 3/1/2012 |
Conté may not always be the very first thing on my mind most days, but I'd wager it takes up an unreasonably high proportion of my lizard brain moment to moment. Before this figure drawing endeavor we have embarked upon, I'd have suspected I was an anomaly. Not so it seems! I find myself in a veritable support group of like minded individuals who cannot be dissuaded from their fever dreams of charcoal and conté and graphite and, like, crayon or something. We have found in each other a community. A community that stares at a naked person in a remote hallway of a Santa Monica post house once a week. I'm sure there are more conventional ways to spend one's time, but naked people.
We did some blind contours this week. I don't know if they were especially popular, but I don't need your approval. I prefer to think they were fun and low pressure and amusing. And weird looking (see above). Basically you aren't allowed to look at your page and you just let your lines wander as you observe the model. The end result is unusual, to be charitable. They're usually good for a laugh, but it does seem to exercise a different brain muscle. Did I mention we're studying anatomy? Because we are.
We had a few more new people join us. I am thrilled they were able to join us. This whole thing just keeps getting better and better.
Ten weeks in and we're keeping it fresh. I dug an old box of art supplies out of my closet. It was a walk down memory lane. This was 1997 Max's kit. It contained markers from my comic book art days when I was coloring in Gambit and Batman at the kitchen table. I also found conté-like Art Stix from my cariacature days. There was still a price sticker on one of my markers reading 9/96. And it still worked! Props to Prismacolor. Those folks make a fine product. So last night was dedicated to burgeoning-artist Max from half my life ago. So full of promise and acne.
